Ronald Kriedel Takes Over as CEO of the BRYCK Startup Alliance

The BRYCK Startup Alliance is expanding its operational leadership: Dr. Ronald Kriedel will assume the role of managing director effective September 1, 2026, with a focus on university technology transfer and early-stage startup support. The long-time technology transfer expert from TU Dortmund University succeeds Max Weil Schimanski and is tasked in particular with strengthening the connection between academia, the Startup Factory, and industry.

Kriedel will continue to work at TU Dortmund University and for the TU Capital Fund in parallel. With this dual role, the BRYCK Startup Alliance aims to reach science-based startup teams earlier and accelerate the transfer of research results into marketable companies.

From University Technology Transfer to Startup Factory

Kriedel has been at TU Dortmund since 2010 and has been intensively involved in entrepreneurship and startup support since 2012. He helped establish the university’s Startup Center and took over as managing director of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer (CET) in 2017. In this role, he further developed structures for researchers, students, and alumni interested in starting companies and worked at the intersections between academia, the market, and capital. These include, among others, TU Concept and TU Capital.

Science and entrepreneurship follow different logics, speak different languages, and ask different questions

Dr. Ronald Kriedel

Kriedel now plans to bring this experience to the BRYCK Startup Alliance. According to him, structures and networks that connect both worlds are crucial.

Three Managing Directors with Different Areas of Focus

With Kriedel’s appointment, the BRYCK Startup Alliance will be led operationally by three managing directors. Philippa Köhnk is responsible for the industry and market perspective as well as collaboration between startups and companies. Ersin Üstün focuses on regional and international partnerships and building the deep-tech ecosystem. Kriedel will take charge of the technology transfer division and is tasked in particular with expanding access to universities, research, and science-based startup teams.

The leadership structure thus reflects the three central pillars of the Startup Factory: science and technology transfer, industry and the market, and the ecosystem and partnerships.

Managing Partner Philipp Herrmann views this personnel decision as a strategic move. Through Kriedel’s concurrent role in university technology transfer, his structures and networks will be directly linked to the Startup Factory.

60 Teams and Startups Supported

According to its own figures, the BRYCK Startup Alliance has already supported more than 60 teams and startups since it began operations. The first accelerator cohort included 23 teams from six countries.

The companies supported collectively employ over 520 people and have raised more than 29 million euros in capital to date. At the same time, the organization has expanded its own capabilities: Following its move to the Colosseum Essen, the Startup Factory now employs around 40 staff members.

The BRYCK Startup Alliance is backed by the RAG Foundation, the Ruhr University Alliance—comprising Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund, and the University of Duisburg-Essen—the Initiativkreis Ruhr, and the BRYCK Innovation and Startup Center. The Alliance is one of ten startup factories selected in the federal government’s EXIST Lighthouse Competition.

Ambitious Goals by 2030

In the long term, the BRYCK Startup Alliance aims to establish the Ruhr region as a European hub for science-based, high-growth deep-tech companies.

By 2030, the organization aims to mentor 1,000 spin-offs and support 240 deep-tech startups in scaling their operations. The companies in the ecosystem are expected to raise a total of one billion euros in capital and create 15,000 new jobs.

With Kriedel’s appointment, the focus is shifting more strongly toward technology transfer from universities. The Startup Factory does not intend to support scientific technologies only after a company has been founded, but rather to identify potential teams earlier and guide them on their journey from research to the market.